Daylight
by RonaldAndMione
Summary: Ron leaves for his first overnight mission as an auror and Hermione is left at home, unable to adjust to the fact that she's been left behind. Both have to deal with seperation once more.


_It's been a while._

_I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting._

_But I'm here now._

_'ello :) I know that at the end of _The Cruel Irony _I'd said that this year I'd be back and writing and I have heaps of ideas. Doesn't look like I'll be updating as regularly as I used to. I'm getting into that period of my life where I need to really focus on work. Also, it's that period of the year where work piles up and I have heaps of studying and exams and assignments etc. which leave me with absolutely no time to write. So, updates will be much less often._

_Anyway, here's _Daylight_, inspired by the song by Maroon 5 (though not a song-fic) and titled thusly because I have no creativity._

_Daylight_

_You knocked me sideways when you said that you were leaving_

Our story starts off in the late afternoon. Our setting: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's flat. Hermione is sitting on the couch, back to the window so that natural light can creep in and fall onto the pages of her book. It's late September and it's starting to get dark earlier, and Hermione feels lucky to have this rare sunlight.

Serenity falls across the home. The only sounds that can be heard are Hermione's breathing and Crookshanks' occasional mew. A small smile is resting on Hermione's face and doesn't seem to want to get off. Hermione is truly happy.

Then, the quiet is disturbed when Ron Weasley barrels through the door and then slams it shut. Hermione glances up at him and her smile only grows wider at the sight of her boyfriend. She always feels a sense of giddiness when he walks through the door of their home – their _home_. The novelty still hasn't worn off after almost seven months of living together and Hermione wonders if it ever will.

Then, she realises that Ron's particularly happy, too. He's grinning a lot wider than he usually does and he's breathless.

"Ron," she begins, sitting up. "What's going on?"

Ron's lips curve more as he races over and sits down next to her, after shooing Crookshanks away, of course. He stares at her for a moment then comes out with it.

"I'm going on an overnight raid."

Hermione's confused for the briefest of moments, and then she realises what he's talking about. "You've been selected for an overnight mission?" she clarifies.

"Yeah," Ron says breathlessly, giddy with excitement.

"Oh," Hermione merely says, casting her eyes down at her closed book. She then quickly looks up and smiles. "That's great, Ron! That's ... that's wonderful!"

"I've been waiting two years for this, Hermione," he continues on. "Training for a year, then working on regular raids for a year—"

_Regular. Shorter. Less dangerous raids_.

"And they told us that you can be assigned to an overnight raid as soon as you've spent a year as a fully trained auror but all the guys say that you have to be _really_ good to be selected straight away – most of them had to wait eighteen months after they finished their training," Ron sighs and leans back against the couch, his neck rolling along the top curve of the couch. He gives himself a moment and then lifts his head back up so that he can look at Hermione. "Hermione, I'm _good_," he says incredulously. "I'm... I'm _good_ at this. They picked _me_. Straight away. After only a _year_. Hermione... it's..." He fumbles for the right word, looking awestruck and speechless. "It's _amazing_, Hermione... I..."

And Hermione can't bear to ruin the moment so she puts aside her fear, along with her book, and reaches over and envelops her boyfriend in a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, Ron," she says honestly into his shoulder. "I always knew you were amazing." She sighs. "And I'm really happy that you're starting to see it, too."

She can feel Ron press his lips against her temple and she struggles not to cry.

"Congratulations," she whispers.

"Thanks, Hermione," Ron tells her, and with a deep, composing breath, Hermione pulls away from him with a smile on her face.

_Things that we thought but never heard_

"You're packing?" he hears, and turns away from the bed and looks through the doorway.

"Yeah," he replies, turning back and picking up a shirt. He folds it and carefully places it in his bag.

"You're leaving in three days," Hermione points out. He can hear her footsteps as she walks further into their bedroom.

"Yeah," he says again.

"But you've never packed before the night before you leave. A few times, you only started packing a few _hours_ before you left for somewhere!"

"Well," Ron says, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess that this time is different."

Hermione walks around their bed and sits on the other side of it. Her shoulders slump and her eyes look defeated. "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?" she murmurs quietly, her index finger tracing the patterns on their bed cover.

Ron notices her behaviour and moves aside the remaining clothes so that he can move across the bed and reach her. He puts an arm around her as she pointedly avoids his gaze.

"You all right?" he asks in a low voice.

Hermione nods quickly. He feels her roll her shoulders back and he knows that he won't be getting anything out of her today. She stands up determinedly and walks back around the bed to the pile of clothes beside the bag. "Come on, many hands make lighter work."

Ron doesn't feel too sure but he stands up all the same and moves towards her, with hesitance and concern now consuming him as he picks up his trousers and puts them in his bag.

_And when the daylight comes I'll have to go but tonight I'm going to hold you so close_

They're both breathless and exhausted as they snuggle together in the aftermath of bliss. She clings to his bare chest, her head over the spot where his heart beats. She feels tears stinging her eyes and so she shuts her lids, hoping the tears don't fall.

"Hermione, I know something's wrong."

Hermione licks her lips and squeezes her eyes even tighter, as if that would help her avoid this conversation.

"Hermione," she hears him try again. "I... just before... it was obvious. You were nearly in tears when we were... you know," she can tell his ears are red with embarrassment, because even though they've been together for over two years and have lived together for seven months, Ron's still a little bashful and awkward when it comes to their relationship.

She sighs.

"And you were... you didn't want to let go of me," Ron continues. "Still don't."

Hermione feels her bottom lip quiver and she shuts her eyes even tighter. She can't... she can't cry.

"I know you're scared," Ron says quietly, almost as if to himself, "and I think I know why... but I want you to tell me."

She feels his hand run through her hair in an attempt to be soothing, but that familiar, spine tingling action only causes the tears to push through and fall.

"I'm petrified," she whispers into the darkness.

She feels Ron stiffen and she knows that there was a part of him hoping everything was all right.

"I'm ashamed," she continues.

"Wait, wait," she hears him say and his arms move her up slightly so that he can sit up. He then pulls her back to him and she hides her face in the crook between his neck and shoulder. "Hermione, why are you ashamed?"

Hermione shakes her head, hating herself for being so weak. "I can't tell you. You'd hate me for it."

"I could never hate you," Ron says, with such conviction that she only wants to cry more. She bites her lip nervously and pulls back. Ron keeps his arms around her, worry etched on his face.

"I feel ashamed," she begins, taking a shaky breath, "because I don't want you going. I... I wish that you hadn't been offered this amazing opportunity. I feel guilty because the one thing that you've wanted for your whole life has been offered to you, and so early on, and there's a part of me that wishes it hadn't been."

She hears him sigh. "You're thinking that because you're afraid," Ron says to her. "And, I've got to tell you, I'm afraid, too."

"Not as much as I am," Hermione argues. "It's hard enough having you go on day raids, even when you're gone a few hours. But now... you're going to be gone for nights, too and... and anything could happen—"

"But it won't," Ron insists firmly and pulls her closer, resting his chin on her head. "Nothing's going to happen."

Hermione shakes her head, as if rejecting his statement. "Anything could happen, and I won't be there to help you and Harry."

She can feel his lips curve into a smile. "We're not _that_ helpless without you, you know."

Hermione sighs and can't help but smile too. "I know, but... it's always been the three of us..."

"And now it won't be."

"No," Hermione agrees quietly. "And I have to sit at home, just waiting?"

"You're doing so much more than that," Ron says to her earnestly. Hermione pulls away in order to look up at him. He looks her straight in the eye. "I'm going to be out there, knowing you're all right. Do you know how much comfort that is to me? Knowing you're out of danger? I swear, Hermione, during those battles in the war, I went mad with worry. I'm going to concentrate on the fact that you don't have to deal with all of this anymore, and I'm going to fight like hell to get back to you once more."

Hermione looks at him for a moment and tries to swallow down the lump in her throat. "That way you felt, when we were younger and fighting together... how would you have felt if you weren't even there?"

Ron gives her a sheepish smile. "Pretty sick, to be honest."

"Exactly."

There's a pause. "Nothing's going to happen."

"But it could."

"I won't let it."

Hermione stares at him, eyes pleading. "_Promise_ you won't."

Ron sighs and stares back at her with equal passion. "I promise I'm going to fight like hell to come back home."

Hermione knows that's the best she can ask for and so she takes what she can get. "Good," she says. She lies back down on the bed and closes her eyes, even though she knows she won't be getting any sleep tonight.

_Stumbled through the long goodbye_

In the morning there is no panic or rush to distract them from their impending separation. Ron is trying to eat as much of his breakfast as he can, even though he's terrified – it's his first overnight mission, and they're always tough, he's been told – and terror makes him lose his appetite. Hermione is trying to be her usual strong, capable self, all signs of the fragile, fearful girl from the night before long gone. It doesn't help Ron knowing that she's going to fall apart soon and he'll either be gone by then or be running out the door and unable to comfort her.

"So you've got a spare change of clothes?" she asks, shoulders back and determined.

Ron nods, his mouth too full for him to respond vocally.

"You're going to be gone for three nights, you'll need a few more-"

"I've got enough," Ron says after finally swallowing. "And they're all dark so I won't be spotted as easily, and you won't be able to see the blood..." His voice trails off and Hermione looks away pointedly, biting her lip. Ron wants to slap himself.

"Well," Hermione says shakily, "that's good, then. Have you—"

Ron stands up from his seat and walks over to her. She quietens and keeps her eyes on him as he approaches. When she's within arm's reach he pulls her to him. "I'm going to be fine," he says to her.

"I know," Hermione says, her voice muffled. "Doesn't mean I won't worry." She pulls back, her eyes shining. He's quite taken aback at how beautiful she looks in that moment.

"I love you," he says earnestly.

"I know," Hermione says, smiling. "I love you, too." Then her eyes spot something behind him and she's instantly disappointed. "It's time to go," she says quietly.

Ron turns away to look at the clock and sure enough, he's supposed to be at the auror office in five minutes' time.

"Right," he says, looking back at her. She's got a sad smile on her face and he's gripped with the sudden realisation that while she's going to be without him for the next few days, he's going to be without her. "Blimey, I'm going to miss you."

"I know," Hermione says with a soft smile. "Who's going to get rid of spiders for you?" Ron laughs at her attempt to lighten up their goodbye and she waits for him to finish before saying in a sad voice, "I'm going to miss you, too. Be careful."

"Of course," Ron says, and leans in to kiss her with all he's got. She responds back and he can feel all she's feeling – the pride for him, the worry for him... the love.

She's the one to pull back and walk away. She brings him his bag and he takes it with a quiet "Thanks." He checks to make sure that his wand is in his pocket and then opens the door. He casts a quick glance back at her and she gives him another kiss before murmuring "Stay safe, please."

"I'll try," Ron can only say.

"_Please_," Hermione begs and Ron holds her close.

"I've got to go," he says after a moment.

"I know," she says, but doesn't pull away for a few seconds.

"I love you," he says again. She repeats the three words and he closes the door behind him, not before hearing a small, heartbreaking sob.

_first, you think the worst is a broken heart, what's going to kill you is the second part_

It's been a long and gruelling day at work. The paperwork was a mile high and extremely time consuming. She's had several meetings today and not a single moment to herself.

Perfect.

Her mind has been somewhere else today – somewhere productive, somewhere happy. She has barely thought about Ron's absence since he'd left.

Until now.

Now, the nothing is so obvious.

There aren't any shoes lying precariously in the middle of the hallway. There aren't any feet on the coffee table for Hermione to want to push off. There's no one noticing that she's had a busy day, no one getting up to hug her and rub her shoulders soothingly.

It's far too quiet.

Hermione stares at the empty living room for a few seconds, looks away suddenly and hastily starts walking down the hallway towards the bathroom. She turns on the tap above the bathtub and tests the water to make sure it's a nice temperature. She adds some bubble mixture and inhales the pleasant aroma before removing her clothes and getting in, trying to ease the stress of the day with a warm bath and trying to forget that she's all alone in this flat.

After the bath, she makes dinner. For one.

After dinner, she sits in the living room. Alone. She reads, but there is no one distracting her, kissing her neck and telling her that she reads too much. Funnily enough, she's finding it more difficult to concentrate now than when Ron was distracting her.

She closes her book suddenly with a snap, causing Crookshanks to sit up, startled. He mews, sounding quite annoyed, but follows Hermione out of the room as she marches into her room and angrily, frustrated, starts changing into her pyjamas and getting ready for bed. She huffs and sighs, quite irritated at Ron simply for not being there.

She climbs under the covers and feels cold without his presence. She can normally feel him next to her, hear his heavy breathing and light snores. There's nothing there.

Her anger at Ron dissipates and is quickly replaced with worry. She closes her eyes in an effort to shut it out with sleep.

The escape doesn't come for a long time.

_And I'm a little bit lost without you, and I'm a really big mess inside_

"How're you doing?"

"All right."

"All right?"

"Yeah."

No, not really. He's cold and afraid and really hungry, too. This is not what he thought a raid would be like. He thought there would be a lot of action and everything would be fixed quickly and he'd get home soon, but now that he's here, crouching on the ground, keeping in the same position for several hours now, he realises that he shouldn't have been expecting anything like that on an overnight raid – especially one that goes for several days.

"It's not very exciting, is it?" Harry comments to him, and Ron wants to laugh.

"That's an understatement."

"My first overnight, I had to stay like this for five hours and about halfway through, I realised I had to use the loo."

Ron raises his eyebrow at him. "What'd you do, then?"

"Well, I held it off as long as I could but—"

"What the hell, Harry, why would you tell me something like that?"

Harry seems a little embarrassed, but then explains, "Thought it might entertain us."

"It only made me paranoid."

"Any more paranoid than you were before?"

Ron pauses and then swallows nervously. "Not really." He realises then that Harry's story did actually make the mood a little better. Now, they were back to boredom and apprehension.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Harry asks his best friend.

"I am," Ron insists truthfully. "Really. Just... it's not really what I thought it'd be."

"Yeah," Harry admits. "I thought the same thing my first time."

"How many have you gone on since that first one?" Ron asks. The September after the Battle of Hogwarts, when Hermione had gone back to school, Harry had gone straight to the auror academy, training for six months, along with Neville. Ron, on the other hand, had opted to help George out at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and so had to split his time between the shop and training. He'd finished his training in September the next year. Harry was already going on missions by that point, and Ron started to join him. Then, six months later, a year after completing his training, Harry had gone on his first overnight mission. Now, six months later, Ron had caught up to him again.

"About seven, I'd say," Harry says, scrunching up his face in thought. "There was the Loiton case, the Tyren, the Plainsby... yeah, seven."

"Does it get better with time?"

"Not really, but you get used to it," Harry tells him. "They're really different, the overnighters. You're used to going out of the office for just a few hours and getting the raid done quickly and coming home by dinner..."

Ron's stomach grumbles rather loudly at this, so much so that a nearby auror hisses at them to shut up.

"It's just really... boring, I suppose, the overnighter," Harry continues. "Or at least, the waiting around."

"Yeah," Ron agrees fervently. "I hate the waiting. It's making me feel really nervous. I just want to barge in and fight already. The waiting around only builds up the nerves."

"Yeah, that happens the first few times," chimes in Rogers, a fellow auror who'd been crouching not too far away from them. A professional auror for eight years, he's respected by everyone. "It goes away after your first ten or so. During the wait-around you build up determination and then when you race into the building you're kicking everyone's arses."

Ron grins and feels a bit of the apprehension escape him.

"They're always tough, these overnighters are," Rogers says. "You're always cold and hungry and tired, and it's hell being away from your family."

Ron swallows nervously and sighs, looking down at the cool, barren ground. He really misses her. A lot. He's shaking with fear, his heart is racing and all he wants is her warm touch, her calming presence. She can comfort him like no one else.

"That never gets any easier," Rogers says sadly, watching the wistful pair of young aurors.

Suddenly they hear movement and they raise their wands before realising that it's another member of their team.

"Retreat," he says. "Bruce and Quint checked out the place and realised the floor plan is a lot more different than we'd thought. We've got to go back to camp and come back tomorrow or the day after with a new plan. Turns out they weren't even here tonight, anyway."

Ron curses under his breath. All that for nothing? He stands up and stretches his arms; his bones crack noisily as he begins to move his body.

Harry grins at him. "It's all right. We had some male-bonding time."

Ron snorts and shoves him. As they begin to walk back to their camp, Ron looks up at the starry sky, wondering how Hermione is. He hopes she's all right. Bloody hell, he misses her. He needs to get this raid done with as soon as possible.

"Yeah, it's all right. We'll kick their arses tomorrow."

_I'm so scared about the future and I want to talk to you_

The door opens and, upon seeing her friend standing before her, Hermione smiles. Ginny smiles back, almost knowingly, though Hermione does not know why.

"Good to see you, Hermione!" Ginny exclaims, giving her a hug.

Hermione's smile grows wider and she returns the hug. They walk into Harry and Ginny's flat together; Hermione takes off her warm pink scarf as they do so.

"It's rather chilly outside," Hermione comments as she sits down on a couch.

"Ghastly, isn't it?" Ginny says, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she begins to make her way to the kitchen. "I just put on the kettle a moment ago. I'll pour us some tea."

"That'd be wonderful, thank you," Hermione says gratefully, unbuttoning her coat and sliding out of it.

"Why were you out walking anyway?" Ginny calls from the kitchen. "Could've floo-ed here, you know."

"Oh, I had nothing better to do, so I thought I might go for a walk around the neighbourhood, get some fresh air," Hermione says, fingers coiling through her hair, trying to untangle a mess. "Ended up walking past your flat and thought I might as well visit."

"Of course," Ginny says, voice much clearer as she re-enters the living room with two cups of tea. "Here," she adds, offering a cup to Hermione once she reaches her.

"Thank you," Hermione says and takes the cup from Ginny, holding it in her hands and feeling the warmth emitting from it.

"To be honest," Ginny began conversationally, "I was expecting you to come visit me earlier."

Hermione takes a sip from the tea before replying. "Really? Why?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but when Harry first went on his overnight mission, I was terrified."

Hermione swallows and licks her lips, casting her eyes at the ground. It's been two days since Ron has left and so far, she thinks she's coped quite well. She was a sorry sight the days before Ron left, but after Ron left she'd been bombarded with work and things to do.

But today is Saturday and she isn't needed at the office.

Today, Ron's absence has really started to sink in. They usually spend Saturdays together: going out, laughing, enjoying their time to relax with each other. Today she doesn't know what to do with herself, now that Ron's not here to enjoy the day with her.

"I am scared," Hermione admits to Ginny. "I was petrified before he left but these past few days I've been all right... it's just, now that the weekend has hit I don't really have anything distracting me."

"So I'm merely your distraction?" Ginny asks, pretending to sound offended.

Hermione merely smiles, letting the word "Yes" fall from her lips.

Ginny leans back a little, relaxing on the couch. "Oh, all right, I'll accept that," she sighs, and Hermione laughs. Then, Ginny turns serious. "So, you don't want to talk about anything? I happen to know a lot about being left behind whilst people I love go off to fight." She gives Hermione a small smile to indicate that she isn't serious.

"I'd rather not think about things," Hermione admits.

"That's fine," Ginny says, sipping some more tea. "Just stay here with me for the rest of today. We'll order some takeaway for dinner, have a girls' day."

"That sounds perfect," Hermione, smiling.

"You only need to worry about finding something to do today. Tomorrow will be action-packed."

"It sure will be," Hermione agrees. Tomorrow they'll be heading off to the Burrow for Sunday brunch. The whole clan will be there, along with recent additions Victoire and Molly. Molly had only been born a few weeks ago.

"Percy sent me a few pictures of Molly, you know," Ginny says. "They arrived yesterday morning. Do you want to see them?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Hermione exclaims, sitting up eagerly, and thus Ginny's master distraction plan commences. It is a success.

_And if I fall here at least you know, my dear, that I would die for you_

A bright, red light whizzes past him and he fires the spell back at the attacker, curling his body into a ball and rolling behind a barrel.

"Ron, get back!" Harry shouts from somewhere, his voice betraying his true feelings – panic and fear. Ron immediately rolls back from the barrel, hearing an enormous boom as he does. When he straightens up, there is nothing left of the barrel but mere bits and pieces of wood and a strange purple substance spilling around the remnants.

Ron has no time to thank his friend and reminds himself to do so after all this is over. "_Expelliarmus_!" he calls out, and moves out of the way once more as a blue hex is shot at him. "_Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!_"

More lights race towards him. Yellow, orange, pink. Red again. Purple, too. Blue again. Red once more.

Then green.

"RON!" Harry shouts from somewhere, but Ron does not need his friend to warn him. Ron ducks down faster than he'd ever thought a human was physically able to, his mind blank as he rolls into the corner of the room.

Then, everything becomes so apparent. Or, at least, one thing does.

Hermione.

Ron closes his eyes for a brief moment, trying to regain his breath after those frightening few seconds. He thinks of her, waiting for him, worrying for him, loving him...

"Hermione," he breathes, his head dizzy. He wants her. He misses her.

He's got to deal with this first.

And suddenly he's taken back to the battle of Hogwarts, several years ago, when all he could think about was that kiss. That kiss had driven him crazy and for the hours between that kiss and their second, it was nearly all he could think about. During the battle, all he could think about was Hermione and kissing her again.

_Hell, I want to kiss her_ now, he thinks desperately.

And then suddenly he's back in an old warehouse, fighting for his life alongside his team of aurors and he knows he's got to make it out of this. He's got to see her again.

But first he has to kick some arses.

_And you've come back to me in my dreams_

He's coming home tomorrow.

Hermione sighs and rolls over onto her stomach, her head facing the side Ron usually sleeps on. She tries to catch Ron's scent but it doesn't come. He's not here.

She sighs again, then sits up and pulls his pillow over to herself, wrapping her arms around it and holding it tightly against her chest. She breathes in deeply and closes her eyes tightly to stop the tears from falling. Her heart aches. She breathes again in attempt to calm herself down and try to sleep.

He's coming home tomorrow.

_You put your arms around me and I'm home._

He apparates to the specified apparition point about a hundred metres from his apartment and walks home from there. His rucksack is resting casually on his back and he can't help but smile as he passes the familiar buildings and people. His mind his racing and wants his legs to do the same.

Finally he reaches their apartment and pulls out his key. His hands shake as he puts it into the keyhole. He soon hears the sound of the door unlocking and he turns the handle and pushes the door open.

He smiles breathlessly, like he's just run a marathon and won.

She's there, alive and safe and beautiful and reading _Hogwarts, A History_ on the couch in front of the fire. Crookshanks notices him first and mews. Ron grins and steps forward into their home.

Hermione looks up, startled. She doesn't seem to realise what's going on, and then, suddenly, she does. She quickly places her book on the couch, not even bothering to note what page she's on, Ron notices happily.

Then she's racing around the couch towards him, her face an expression of utter relief. And then her arms wrap around his neck as she leaps forward to hug him. Ron quickly catches her in his arms and sighs, burying his face in her hair and inhaling deeply.

He's home.

_Now, in order, the songs I used in this story: Glowing - The Script, Before The Worst - The Script, Daylight - Maroon 5, Come Back, Be Here - Taylor Swift, Six Degrees of Separation - The Script, This Ain't A Love Song - Scouting For Girls, Talk - Coldplay, You Won't Feel A Thing - The Script, The Last Day On Earth - Kate Miller Heidke, Arms - Christina Perri._

_So many songs by The Script and I'm not even sorry._

_Oh, and I don't own the songs, nor Harry Potter._

_Till next time!_

_- RonaldAndMione_


End file.
